Electric mobility in India

 

In news:

• Power ministry has revised guidelines for setting up charging infra for Electric Vehicles.

 

Important facts:

• Union government will install one electric vehicle charging station after every four kilometers in cities and twenty five kilometers on both ways of highways connecting to these cities.
• It will reduce range anxiety amongst potential customers regarding electric vehicles.
• The move will help in increase availability of charging-related infrastructure in the next decade
• Lack of charging infrastructure is one of the main reasons behind poor adoption of electric mobility in India.
• As the State Transport Units (STUs) have started operating electric busses on different routed lack of charging infrastructure has proven to be a significant road block.

 

Revised guidelines:

• A phase-wise installation of a network of charging infrastructure throughout the country has been envisaged in the new guidelines.
• In the first phase (1-3 years), all mega cities with a population of over 4 mn and highways connected with each of these mega cities may be taken up for coverage
• The government will also install separate charging stations for heavy electric vehicles like buses or trucks after every 100 kilometres on both sides of highways.
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under Ministry of Power has been nominated as the Central Nodal Agency to facilitate installation of Charging Infrastructure.

 

What is Electric Vehicles (EVs)?

• An electric vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion.
• An electric vehicle may be powered through self-contained battery, solar panels or an electric generator to convert fuel to electricity.

 

Need for EVs in India

• Climate change: Problem of rapid global temperature increase has created the need for a reduction in the use of fossil fuels and the associated emissions. India has committed to cutting its GHG emissions intensity by 33% to 35% percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
• Rapid urbanization: Economic development leads to rapid urbanization in emerging nations as rural populations move non-agricultural sectors in cities creating environmental problems.
• Reduce oil dependency:  India imports oil to cover over 80 percent of its transport fuel. EVs can reduce dependence on imported crude oil promoting India’s energy security.
• Competitiveness:  It will encourage cutting edge technology in India through adoption, adaptation, and research and development. EVs manufacturing capacity will promote global scale and competitiveness.
• Employment growth: Promotion of EVs will facilitate employment growth in a sun-rise sector.
• Low carbon energy:  The shift towards renewable energy sources has led to cost reduction from better electricity generating technologies. This has introduced the possibility of clean, low-carbon and inexpensive grids.
• Paris Climate Agreement: It will help India in meeting its commitment of Paris climate agreement.

 

Disadvantages of EVs:

• Less Range: Electric engines provide only limited mileage. A complete batterry recharge takes long hours and there is lack of quick charge plug in stations available across the country.
• Less power: The top speed of electric cars is at 70 mph which make them a poor belt with highway driving.
• Costly: Electric Vehicles are costlier than gasoline powered vehicles due to lithium-ion batteries.
• High toxicity: Even though EVs are classified as green cars,  the toxicity of batteries are high and not all electricity is derived from renewable energy sources.

 

Challenges for EV Industry in India

• Lack of a stable policy for EV production: EV production is capital intensive sector requiring long term planning to break even and profit realization, uncertainty in government policies related to EV production discourages investment in the industry.
• Lack of skilled workers: India lacks dedicated training courses for such skill development.
• Lack of availability of materials for domestic production:  India does not have any known reserve of lithium and cobalt which are required for battery production.
• Lack of associated infrastructural support: The lack of clarity over AC versus DC charging stations, grid stability and range anxiety 
• Technological challenges:  India is technologically deficient in the production of electronics that form the backbone of EV industry, such as batteries, semiconductors, controllers, etc.
• Market penetration: Currently, Indian Electric Vehicles market penetration is lowest in the world.

 

Government Initiatives:

FAME India Scheme:

• FAME India Scheme [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India] was launched in 2015 with the objective to support hybrid/electric vehicles market development and manufacturing ecosystem.
• The scheme has 4 focus areas i.e. Technology Development, Demand Creation, Pilot Projects and Charging Infrastructure.

 

National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) :

• Government of India launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 in 2013

 

Vision:

• To encourage reliable, affordable and efficient xEVs that meet consumer performance and price expectations through Government - Industry collaboration for promotion and development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities, required infrastructure, consumer awareness and technology; thereby helping India to emerge as a leader in the xEV Two Wheeler and Four Wheeler market in the world by 2020, with total xEV sales of 6-7 million units thus enabling Indian automotive Industry to achieve global xEV manufacturing leadership and contributing towards National Fuel Security.

Target:

There is an ambitious target to achieve 6-7 million sales of hybrid and electric vehicles year on year from 2020 onwards. Government aims to provide fiscal and monetary incentives to kick start this nascent technology. With the support from the Government, the cumulative sale is expected to reach 15-16 Million by 2020. It is expected to save 9500 Million Liters of crude oil equivalent to Rs. 62000 Cr. savings.

 

Some other steps taken by the government:

Various initiatives have been taken by the Government to promote electric mobility in the country. Some of them are:

• Under new GST regime, the rates of GST on Electric Vehicles has been kept in the lower bracket of 12% (with no Cess) as against the 28% GST rate with Cess up to 22% for conventional vehicles.
• Ministry of Power has allowed sale of electricity as ‘service’ for charging of electric vehicles. This would provide a huge incentive to attract investments into charging infrastructure.
• Ministry of Road Transport Highways issued notification regarding exemption of permit in case of battery operated vehicles.
• Issue of Expression of Interest (EoI) for deployment of 5000 electric buses by State Transport Departments/Undertakings etc.

 

Way ahead:

• Creation of Demand: More focus should be given towards the creation of demand by making it easy and cheap for consumers to switch to EVs.
• Incentives: More incentives should be given for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers segments than four-wheelers.
• Retrofitting: Retrofitting or addition of a new technology in existing small vehicles can be considered for a nominal cost for consumers.
• Research and Development: Needed vibrant battery research and development ecosystem domestically to develop alternative technologies containing minerals with low supply risk.
• Policy: Better policy roadmap is the need of the hour for planned investment in the sector.
• Financial constraint: It can be addressed by providing a waiver of road tax and registration fees GST and free parking for EVs.

 

Source)

https://www.livemint.com/auto-news/power-ministry-revises-guidelines-for-setting-up-charging-infra-for-evs-11570200046085.html